Arden Floating Market: Micro-Setting Guide
The Arden Floating Market is a place of endless bartering and trade, a bustling hive of activity that teems with life fueled by commerce. Its rafts and barges are packed to the brim with rare and exotic goods each more tantalizing and alluring than the last. The air is thick with the scent of spices and perfumes, and the sound of haggling and pitching of goods fills the air like its own personal soundtrack.
KEY LOCATIONS & LANDMARKS
♦ The Unending Auction - The Unending Auction is a place of constant excitement and suspense, and is considered by many to be the heart of the Floating Market. The auction house is a sturdy wooden structure that rests gently on the surface of the [Lendymirl River]. Its walls are adorned with rare finds from all over the world.
♦ Coral Palace Curios - A mysterious shop, where the strangest treasures of the arcane can be found. The shop's shelves are lined with odd, arcane objects, and visitors find themselves beset upon by strange curios. The shop is also known for its collection of ancient tomes, some of which that have been lost to the world for centuries.
♦ Trader's Grotto - The Traders’ Grotto is a massive and imposing ship that is long run aground at the edge of the Floating Market. The makeshift shop is a popular gathering place for traders and merchants, who come to discuss business and strike deals in the shadows of its tall masts and billowing sails.
♦ The Emerald Bridge - The Emerald Bridge spans the [Lendymirl River] and is the primary connection of the Floating Market with the rest of the city. The bridge is made of a combination of stone and glasswork, and is adorned with intricate carvings and shimmering green glass that sparkles like an emerald in the sunlight.
♦ The Floating Gardens - A series of gardens and parks that float on rafts along the edges of the [Lendymirl River], lining the edges of the bustling market. Visitors can stroll along the garden paths, enjoying the scent of the flowers and the peaceful sound of the flowing water.
HISTORY OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
The history of the Floating Market goes back to the earliest days of the city, to a time when Ardenfell was little more than the Glasswork Hollow and the makeshift docks of the Harborfront. As miners and traders from [Sliah] began to transport their goods from the north downriver, the [Lendymirl River] became a bustling waterway, and Ardenfell a major trading port.
Over time, the river became so crowded with boats and ships that the merchants began to look for ways to expand their businesses beyond the limits of the riverbanks. They began constructing barges and rafts that could float freely on the water forming a network of interconnected marketplaces that would come to be known as the Arden Floating Market.
Today, the Floating Market is the city's hub of commerce, attracting merchants and artisans alike to its profitable waters. The Floating Market remains a place where fortunes are made and lost on an almost daily basis, and where any artist's work can escape obscurity with a single sale.
This Micro-Setting Guide is designed to serve as a modular backdrop for Game Masters to insert into their world as well as the setting of a series of interconnected adventures. This guide (and its adventures) can either be used as side quests to an existing narrative or can be augmented to fold into an ongoing campaign to add some additional depth to your campaign and world.
The Arden Floating Market is a place of endless bartering and trade, a bustling hive of activity that teems with life fueled by commerce. Its rafts and barges are packed to the brim with rare and exotic goods each more tantalizing and alluring than the last. The air is thick with the scent of spices and perfumes, and the sound of haggling and pitching of goods fills the air like its own personal soundtrack.
KEY LOCATIONS & LANDMARKS
♦ The Unending Auction - The Unending Auction is a place of constant excitement and suspense, and is considered by many to be the heart of the Floating Market. The auction house is a sturdy wooden structure that rests gently on the surface of the [Lendymirl River]. Its walls are adorned with rare finds from all over the world.
♦ Coral Palace Curios - A mysterious shop, where the strangest treasures of the arcane can be found. The shop's shelves are lined with odd, arcane objects, and visitors find themselves beset upon by strange curios. The shop is also known for its collection of ancient tomes, some of which that have been lost to the world for centuries.
♦ Trader's Grotto - The Traders’ Grotto is a massive and imposing ship that is long run aground at the edge of the Floating Market. The makeshift shop is a popular gathering place for traders and merchants, who come to discuss business and strike deals in the shadows of its tall masts and billowing sails.
♦ The Emerald Bridge - The Emerald Bridge spans the [Lendymirl River] and is the primary connection of the Floating Market with the rest of the city. The bridge is made of a combination of stone and glasswork, and is adorned with intricate carvings and shimmering green glass that sparkles like an emerald in the sunlight.
♦ The Floating Gardens - A series of gardens and parks that float on rafts along the edges of the [Lendymirl River], lining the edges of the bustling market. Visitors can stroll along the garden paths, enjoying the scent of the flowers and the peaceful sound of the flowing water.
HISTORY OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
The history of the Floating Market goes back to the earliest days of the city, to a time when Ardenfell was little more than the Glasswork Hollow and the makeshift docks of the Harborfront. As miners and traders from [Sliah] began to transport their goods from the north downriver, the [Lendymirl River] became a bustling waterway, and Ardenfell a major trading port.
Over time, the river became so crowded with boats and ships that the merchants began to look for ways to expand their businesses beyond the limits of the riverbanks. They began constructing barges and rafts that could float freely on the water forming a network of interconnected marketplaces that would come to be known as the Arden Floating Market.
Today, the Floating Market is the city's hub of commerce, attracting merchants and artisans alike to its profitable waters. The Floating Market remains a place where fortunes are made and lost on an almost daily basis, and where any artist's work can escape obscurity with a single sale.
This Micro-Setting Guide is designed to serve as a modular backdrop for Game Masters to insert into their world as well as the setting of a series of interconnected adventures. This guide (and its adventures) can either be used as side quests to an existing narrative or can be augmented to fold into an ongoing campaign to add some additional depth to your campaign and world.
The Arden Floating Market is a place of endless bartering and trade, a bustling hive of activity that teems with life fueled by commerce. Its rafts and barges are packed to the brim with rare and exotic goods each more tantalizing and alluring than the last. The air is thick with the scent of spices and perfumes, and the sound of haggling and pitching of goods fills the air like its own personal soundtrack.
KEY LOCATIONS & LANDMARKS
♦ The Unending Auction - The Unending Auction is a place of constant excitement and suspense, and is considered by many to be the heart of the Floating Market. The auction house is a sturdy wooden structure that rests gently on the surface of the [Lendymirl River]. Its walls are adorned with rare finds from all over the world.
♦ Coral Palace Curios - A mysterious shop, where the strangest treasures of the arcane can be found. The shop's shelves are lined with odd, arcane objects, and visitors find themselves beset upon by strange curios. The shop is also known for its collection of ancient tomes, some of which that have been lost to the world for centuries.
♦ Trader's Grotto - The Traders’ Grotto is a massive and imposing ship that is long run aground at the edge of the Floating Market. The makeshift shop is a popular gathering place for traders and merchants, who come to discuss business and strike deals in the shadows of its tall masts and billowing sails.
♦ The Emerald Bridge - The Emerald Bridge spans the [Lendymirl River] and is the primary connection of the Floating Market with the rest of the city. The bridge is made of a combination of stone and glasswork, and is adorned with intricate carvings and shimmering green glass that sparkles like an emerald in the sunlight.
♦ The Floating Gardens - A series of gardens and parks that float on rafts along the edges of the [Lendymirl River], lining the edges of the bustling market. Visitors can stroll along the garden paths, enjoying the scent of the flowers and the peaceful sound of the flowing water.
HISTORY OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
The history of the Floating Market goes back to the earliest days of the city, to a time when Ardenfell was little more than the Glasswork Hollow and the makeshift docks of the Harborfront. As miners and traders from [Sliah] began to transport their goods from the north downriver, the [Lendymirl River] became a bustling waterway, and Ardenfell a major trading port.
Over time, the river became so crowded with boats and ships that the merchants began to look for ways to expand their businesses beyond the limits of the riverbanks. They began constructing barges and rafts that could float freely on the water forming a network of interconnected marketplaces that would come to be known as the Arden Floating Market.
Today, the Floating Market is the city's hub of commerce, attracting merchants and artisans alike to its profitable waters. The Floating Market remains a place where fortunes are made and lost on an almost daily basis, and where any artist's work can escape obscurity with a single sale.
This Micro-Setting Guide is designed to serve as a modular backdrop for Game Masters to insert into their world as well as the setting of a series of interconnected adventures. This guide (and its adventures) can either be used as side quests to an existing narrative or can be augmented to fold into an ongoing campaign to add some additional depth to your campaign and world.